Austrian ex-spy convicted for leaking secrets to Wirecard fugitive

Egisto Ott, a former director of Austria's secret service, was found guilty of passing classified information to Jan Marsalek, the fugitive ex-COO of Wirecard, and Russian operatives between 2017 and 2021. The Vienna Regional Criminal Court sentenced him to over four years in prison for spying, abuse of office, bribery, and embezzlement. Ott was acquitted on some charges and plans to appeal. The intelligence disclosed included details about former Russian spies and Bellingcat journalist Christo Grozev, who left Austria for security reasons. Ott also handed over an encrypted EU laptop to an unknown person on Marsalek's behalf. The trial involved 40 witnesses and drew attention due to Ott's alleged ties to the far-right Freedom Party. In response, Austria's centrist coalition is tightening espionage laws, as current rules only prohibit spying against Austria itself, allowing operations against international organizations and foreigners.